Iraq indicates intentions to form committee for dialogue between Baghdad, Erbil

President of the Republic Fuad Masum and President of Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani. File photo.

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi government has indicated understanding over formation of supreme committee for dialogue between Baghdad and Erbil to be sponsored by President Fuad Masum.

“An initiative was proposed by the president for dialogue between Baghdad and Erbil. He submitted messages to both parties as well as the United Nations,” Amir al-Kinani, the president’s adviser, told AlSumaria News on Monday. “There are understandings over formation of a supreme committee for dialogue to be sponsored by the president.”

“All the parties expressed desire for dialogue, however, no specific authority offered to sponsor the dialogue yet. Consequently, there was an idea to form the committee under sponsorship of the president,” Kinani added.

He expressed wishes that the dialogue starts next week, “although no specific dates were set.”

In December, Shirwan al-Waeli, the presidential adviser, said the UN’s role in the dialogue between Baghdad and Erbil will be technical only. He added that the details of the dialogue will be set by the parties of the crisis and expected the dialogue to start after the Christman and new year’s celebrations.

On Sunday, news reports quoted a parliamentarian source as saying that Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi rejected meditation by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to resolve the to resolve the issue through joint administration between Baghdad and Erbil.

Baghdad had declared intentions to retake areas disputed on with Erbil, as well as border crossings, following the Kurdistan’s vote for independence from Iraq in September.